Recipes

from Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family 

Layered Hummus and Eggplant with Roasted Garlic and Pine Nuts 1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar 1⁄2 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon sugar 1⁄2 to 1 teaspoon kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste

Book presents Jewish holidays as if each were a
party in a decked-out Manhattan apartment.
Thursday, December 18, 2003

By JUDY BART KANCIGOR
Special to the Register

Not so long ago, the words "kosher wine" brought to mind
that syrupy sweet, almost- cough-medicine-like concoction
served as an accompaniment to prayers. Not anymore. Twenty
years ago, observant Jewish baby boomers, hipper and more
sophisticated than their parents, demanded the same selection
and quality found in the nonkosher world, and winemakers took
notice.

"Kosher wines have exploded onto the market," said Susie
Fishbein, author of "Kosher by Design" (Mesorah Publications,
$32.99), who set off an explosion of sorts herself, selling
20,000 copies of her cookbook in the first week of
publication. "There are award-winning wines from all over the
world. It's no longer Malaga and blackberry syrup."

Fishbein's book captures the beauty of the holidays with a
feast for the eye as well as the palate. With 120 lavish
photos, each holiday is presented as if it were a party. To
achieve this effect, Fishbein enlisted the help of party
planner Renee Erreich, and the luscious table settings and
presentation ideas the two created - and photographer John
Uher shot – fairly leap off the page. Set in spectacular
Manhattan apartments, the dazzling photos inspire rather than
intimidate. These are very showy menus, but everything in the
book is doable.

Adapted from “Cooking Jewish” by Judy Bart Kancigor

3 packages dry active yeast
1/2 cup warm water
Scant 1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups oil
1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
6 to 8 cups all-purpose flour 
Canola or corn oil for frying
Jam (any flavor)
Powdered sugar

1. In a large (at least 6-quart) bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes until bubbly. Add scant cup warm water, salt, oil, sugar, and eggs. Add 3 cups of flour and mix. Knead in remaining flour gradually in the bowl until dough is spongy and elastic, but still feels a bit tacky (not stiff). Remove dough and oil sides of bowl (no need to wash it), coat dough with oil and return to bowl. Loosely cover with plastic wrap.

2. Preheat oven to 200°; turn oven off. Let dough rise in oven for 2 hours or until it nearly reaches top of bowl. Roll out on floured board to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 3-inch biscuit cutter (or glass) into rounds. Let rounds rise on cookie sheet 30 minutes.

3. Heat oil in electric fry pan to 365°. Dip fingers in flour. Lift each round of dough, hold with two hands, and with two middle fingers stretch the middle of the round quite thin. This will be the depression for the jam. Quickly drop each round into hot oil, depression side down, and cover until golden brown (not dark). Quickly turn them, cover and fry until other side is golden brown. Drain doughnuts on both sides on paper towels. Fill holes with jam; dust with powdered sugar. Best if eaten warm. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

From Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family (Workman) by Judy Bart Kancigor
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I don’t often adapt recipes from novels, but Sharon Boorstin’s fun romp Cookin’ for Love sent me straight to the kitchen. Heroine Miriam’s thoughts seldom stray from food, and when she awakens from a dream about Grandma’s latkes to find her Malaysian cleaver-toting captor frying curried onions, it’s an “aha” moment of the kitchen kind. Cashews! Ginger! This is a latke with pizzazz! Makes 16 latkes

1/2 cup chopped unsalted cashews or peanuts
1/4 cup chopped mint or flat-leaf parsley, or a combination
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper, seeded and deveined
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 large eggs, beaten
2 large baking potatoes (12 ounces each), cut into wedges
1 medium-size onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil, for frying
Minty Cucumber Yogurt Sauce (recipe below)

1. Combine the cashews, mint, bell pepper, jalapeño, ginger, salt, curry powder, and eggs in a large bowl, and mix well. Set it aside.

2. Shred the potatoes and onion together in a food processor fitted with the shredding disk. Squeeze the potato/onion mixture between several changes of paper towels to release as much liquid as possible. Add the potato/onion mixture to the egg mixture, and combine well. Stir in the flour.

From Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family (Workman) by Judy Bart Kancigor
Order on amazon

From Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family (Workman) by Judy Bart Kancigor
Order on amazon 

Brisket is a cut of beef requiring slow cooking; pot roast is what you make with it (or with other cuts). What makes this version Russian is unclear (I doubt they had chili sauce in Minsk!). Here brisket is marinated in lemon juice, which tenderizes it and provides the tart backdrop for the sweet and tangy chili sauce that comes later. Serves 8 to 10.

About 4 1/2 pounds first-cut beef brisket
Juice of 6 lemons
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
2 envelopes dehydrated onion soup mix
3 tablespoons dark or light brown sugar
1 bottle (12 ounces) chili sauce, such as Heinz
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
About 2 pounds very small red potatoes

1. Place the brisket in a large glass baking dish or in a resealable plastic bag, and add the lemon juice. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or seal the bag, and marinate, turning the meat occasionally, in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Rinse the lemon juice from the meat, and sprinkle both sides of the meat liberally with pepper and garlic powder. Place the brisket, fat side up, in a large roasting pan.

4. Pour water to a depth of about 1 inch around the meat, and sprinkle 1 envelope of the onion soup mix, brown sugar, three fourths of the chili sauce, and the garlic over the meat. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and roast for 2 1/2 hours.

From Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family (Workman) by Judy Bart Kancigor
Order on amazon

Serves 12.

6 navel oranges, sliced in half crosswise
Mama Hinda’s Sweet Potato Casserole filling (recipe below)

FOR THE TOPPINGS
Mini marshmallows and/or Maraschino cherries
Chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
Colored sprinkles, and assorted edible decorations (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Scoop the flesh out of each orange half (reserve it for another use, such as in a fruit salad). A serrated grapefruit spoon is perfect for this purpose. Make sure each orange half can stand up straight. If any are wobbly, cut a thin slice off the bottom.

3. Spoon the sweet potato filling into the scooped-out orange halves. Top with marshmallows, cherries, and nuts, as desired. Arrange the filled orange cups in an ungreased baking pan and bake until the filling is hot and the marshmallows are melted and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Top with sprinkles if using, and serve.

Mama Hinda’s Sweet Potato Casserole filling:

Source: Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family by Judy Bart Kancigor

1/2 cup chopped unsalted cashews or peanuts
1/4 cup chopped mint or flat-leaf parsley, or a combination
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper, seeded and deveined
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 large eggs, beaten
2 large baking potatoes (12 ounces each), cut into wedges
1 medium-size onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil, for frying
Cucumber Dip with Yogurt Sauce (recipe below)

1. Combine the cashews, mint, bell pepper, jalapeño, ginger, salt, curry powder, and eggs in a large bowl, and mix well. Set it aside.
2. Shred the potatoes and onion together in a food processor fitted with the shredding disk. Squeeze between several changes of paper towels to release as much liquid as possible. Add the potato/onion mixture to the egg mixture, and combine well. Stir in the flour.
3. Pour enough oil into a large, heavy skillet to cover the bottom, and heat it over medium-high heat. When the oil is quite hot but not smoking, add a scant 1/4 cup batter per latke and flatten them with a fork. Fry only as many latkes as will fit in the skillet without crowding. Cook until crisp and brown, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer the latkes to paper towels to drain. Keep the latkes warm while frying the remainder.
4. Serve immediately, with the Cucumber dip. Makes about 16.

(Cacik) Cucumber Dip with Yogurt Sauce
1 English (hothouse) cucumber
Kosher (coarse) salt
2 cups plain yogurt
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons crushed dried mint leaves

Source: Adapted from "Chocolate Holidays" by Alice Medrich
Yield: 1 large basket or 3 small baskets

3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
3 or more cups thin pretzel sticks, salted or unsalted

1.Line 2-quart bowl with plastic wrap. (Or lay out wax paper for small nests.) Heat water in bottom of double boiler to simmer.

2.Melt chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water or in microwave on medium (50 percent) power. Cool to lukewarm. In medium bowl, pour most of chocolate over pretzels. Use rubber spatula to turn pretzels gently in chocolate until they are lightly coated, adding as much of chocolate as necessary. (It’s OK if some of pretzel shows through chocolate.)

3.For large basket or nest, scrape pretzels into prepared bowl. Arrange sticky pretzels against sides of container to resemble basket or nest. (Shape small nests on sheets of wax paper.)

4. Refrigerate to set chocolate. To unmold large basket, lift plastic liner from container and peel away from pretzels. Fill with Chocolate Latkes or chocolate Hanukkah gelt (coins).